Ten Places where Annabeth Looked for Percy
by HecateA
Summary: And ten places in which she did not find him. Oneshot. 2/16


**Set before the Lost Hero, and in the making for a looooong time. This poor story was rotting in my USB stick. Hope you enjoy it now that it's been saved!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters portrayed below and the scenario for the last part.**

* * *

**Ten Places where Annabeth Looked for Percy**

* * *

"_You look ready to drop," Piper said. "How long have you been searching for your boyfriend?"_

"_Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes."_

_-Page 48, The Lost Hero_

* * *

"The nymphs are looking through the forest with Cabin Four, Five, Seven, Twelve, Eighteen and Nineteen." Grover said, looking pale. He put a hand on Annabeth's arm.

"Thank you Grover," Chiron said, looking worried. The Stoll brothers came back to them running, the grins wiped clean off their faces.

"Argus has the car started."

"Wonderful. Cabins Eleven, Seventeen and Ten can get rides. Travis, you mayn't drive, so Chris and Tory, Seamus, Mitchell, and Siobhan can take the other three vans."

"Yes," the daughter of Nike said in victory. She looked at Annabeth. "We'll find him."

Annabeth nodded.

"Someone put sea salt in Cabin 15," she said. "It may influence their dreams."

"That's a slim chance."

"But I'm taking it," Annabeth said.

"The Hunters are already searching, and Annabeth- you say you managed to contact Nico? Yes? Well that's Cabin Thirteen covered." Malcolm said. "See? We're getting there…"

"We've alerted the court of Poseidon and though the god isn't there, I suspect they'll send some Cyclops or Oceanids." Annabeth said, paying no attention to Malcolm and to his somewhat-reassuring lie. "Chiron, can you possibly send a message to the Party Ponies?"

"I'll try," Chiron said. "They're probably busy celebrating Columbus Day a few months late, though."

"Iris, we can take to the skies," Butch volunteered.

"Do that," Chiron said. "But leave some Pegasi for the children of Athena."

"We'll sweep the state," Annabeth said.

"How? It's huge?" Nyssa asked.

"We have ways." Annabeth said. "Speaking of ways, can cabin 9try to find him with electronics? GPS, radios, radars, Beckendorf's bronze shield- whatever you've got."

"The works," Nyssa nodded.

"Sixteen, Eighteen and Twenty, if you can scope the perimeter of camp still that would be great," Annabeth said. "Then Twenty, you guys can work your magic and Eighteen can go wander the surrounding fields. Cabin Eighteen, Hebe, if you could guard camps, the little ones, the injured, the inexperienced…"

"We can do that," Justine, a tiny girl, nodded.

"No problem," Lou Ellen said cracking her knuckles.

And so the search began.

* * *

**1 and 2**

**The Obvious Places**

Of course, they all started with camp. They searched the lake and beach especially (this required a lot of scuba equipment and an Iris Message to Tyson), the cabins, the Big House and the forest- which counted as a location of its own due to its size and complexity and magic.

Annabeth separated her cabin to cover more space and dragged Malcolm with her. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but they looked and looked. They heard other people calling and they called themselves.

Eventually she and Malcolm got to the creek.

Annabeth froze. She remembered this spot. She remembered it from their very first game of Capture-the-Flag. He was her scapegoat, but he'd managed to make himself more. He'd made himself a hero and a claimed half-blood and the first newbie in forever to outdo a child of Ares.

She starred.

She'd do anything to go back to that time. When things were simple and she could hold on to more than hope. The panic to find Percy swelled up inside her again.

He wouldn't just _leave camp. _Not only because it was unlike him to go witout either taking Blackjack or leaving a note, but because he'd specifically told her last night that he was craving pancakes and wouldn't miss breakfast for the world. The fact that nobody had seen him even though Jake and Will had _for sure _been making out around Thalia's tree last night and that there was probably at least one couple that had snuck out to kiss by the lake was odd. The fact that his armour and shield lay untouched in his cabin along with the rest of it… the fact that they couldn't IM him and that all the horses were nervous...

Malcolm touched her arm to get her going again, and they moved on. But somehow Annabeth knew that he wasn't in the forest anymore and that they should stop looking.

* * *

**3**

**Grand Central Station**

There were 44 platforms to Grand Central Station, conveniently located in the middle of Manhattan. The terminal covered 48 acres. It had both metro and train tracks but people just came to the station to see its beautiful architecture, wether or not they had to go anywhere- although if you _did _have to go anywhere and you didn't want to travel by air, you were probably going to go by Grand Central Station.

Or at least that was Annabeth's reasoning when she'd figured that it worth a shot.

Next stop: the complicated sewer system under New York City.

* * *

**4**

**Water**

She stood at the spot where the East and Hudson rivers met after spreading her net. She imagined Percy standing there last summer, just a few months ago, and tried to imagine where he was standing now. A few places came to mind. Ogyjia, Olympus, Hades, Atlantis, the residence of a few gods… but none of the contexts were good, so she pushed it out of her mind.

She took the crushed Diet Coke can from her pocket and tossed it into the water. The result was nearly instant; two heads poked out from the yucky rivers. The East River spirit was disturbingly like a telekhine with radioactive green eyes. Hudson River was a humanoid shape in rags with an overgrown beard covered his blotchy-by-algae face.

"What the hell was that?" Hudson demanded.

"You think you're so tough, demigod." East said. "Coming at us and throwing trash. Don't they teach you manners at that camp? You're even wearing the shirt while you do it- how dare you?"

"If you think you're so tough, why don't you come at me on land then '_river gods'?"_ Annabeth said.

"Now what are you insinuating just there young lady!" East called.

"Oh, nothing," Annabeth said sarcastically. "Just that rivers aren't, you know, _acutally _important…"

It was all an act, but it worked. She knew it would, after all Percy had said about these two.

They both popped out from the water and walked towards her. Annabeth crossed her right ankle behind the left and every single strand in her net tightened, closing around East and Hudon the gods.

"Gods damn it! You're a daughter of Athena, aren't you?" Hudson said. He was wearing rags of seaweed and rags with a chainmail coat of bottle caps and plastic six-pack holders.

Annabeth pulled on the transparent thread she held in her hands and the can eventually came back out of the river. East gasped.

"You're a _good_ daughter of Athena!" East said.

"Yeah, and I'm a daughter of Athena on a mission, and you know what that means," Annabeth said walking towards Hudson. She'd analyzed the charts, and Hudson had gotten cleaner since August than East did, so she figured her chances were better with him. "I'm looking for a demigod, have you seen anyone around lately?"

"No," he said. "Not that I can recall. Except of course maybe if…"

"No, I'm not here to bargain." Annabeth nearly growled. "I'm here to ask a question."

"Sorry dearie," Hudson said quietly.

"Don't call me that."

"We're not talking," he continued. "And we've got all day. You, on the other hand, if you're looking for a friend, do not."

Annabeth grabbed him by the collar because he had a point. But she was _not_ getting suckered into granting a river god a favour, and she needed info.

"Look we can do this the easy way or the way," Annabeth said. "Personally I don't mind, because as convenient and clean as the easy way is, I have a few new concepts for torture methods that I'd love to try out."

Hudson gulped.

"So I'll let you choose, how about that?" She said in a sticky sweet voice. She didn't break her gaze from Hudson's and he eventually broke.

"Who are you looking for?" He asked.

"Percy Jackson," she said. "Son of Poseidon."

"He went missing?" East said leaning away from Annabeth. "You're kidding me, right?"

That was enough of an answer. She let them go.

* * *

**5**

**A Happy Place**

Waves rolled up the sand and nearly touched Annabeth's toes. The ocean refused to freeze, even when it was winter and everything was supposed to stop and wait out the cold. She tried not to come up with dumb similies about Percy and his father's element.

She looked around the washed out pastel cabins and the grey and sandy landscape. Percy would love this place, she knew it right away. It wasn't luxurious; it was barely decent, but that was the place where he kept his memories and heart. She could imagine the ghosts of a younger Sally Jackson and a younger Percy walking along the beach and feeding blue marshmallows to the seagulls, sitting by a campfire made of driftwood and wandering into the water up to the ankles when Montauk beach was at its coldest temperatures.

She cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Percy!" She called out. "Percy!"

The same cried echoed all around her, from the other children of Athena who had insisted on looking for him though Chiron had called back most campers for safety reasons.

She looked around the washed out pastel cabins and the grey and sandy landscape.

She knew Percy wasn't there by looking at it. He spoke of Montauk with such fondness; nobody would bring him here against his will. And Annabeth was a hundred percent sure that he hadn't chosen to get kidnapped. If he had left _her _it was against his will.

"Pack up guys, this isn't it." Annabeth called to her siblings over her shoulder.

* * *

**6**

**Home**

"Nothing's moved," Sally promised Annabeth as she walked into Percy's familiar room.

"I believe you," Annabeth said. "I just have to…"

Sally's hand closed around hers reassuringly.

"I know. I'll go finish supper. You're staying over, right?"

Annabeth nodded though she hadn't told Chiron or anybody else at camp that she would. Oh well. Given Sally's record of stuffing every remotely skinny demigod she ever saw, they'd figure it out.

The walls were a deeper shade of blue. A pile of papers that were probably Christmas homework cluttered his desk. Clothes were thrown into a hamper- but not a lot because most of his stuff was at camp. Trophies from Little League were lined on a shelf along with a pile of CD's and some old children's books- Dr Seuss, Harry Potter (Sally was sweet for trying), The Very Hungry Caterpillar…

On the wall over his bed, there was a poster of some guy surfing that was (if Annabeth remembered correctly) a gag gift from Beckendorf. The closet door couldn't close correctly due to all the stuff in it. Annabeth could remember the places where Percy's armour had been- a shield slipped behind his desk, a blue plastic bin that was now empty… The bed was made too.

"It's too clean," Annabeth said. "This can't be right."

Sally's smile was ghostly and small. "I always make him clean his room before going to Camp. He can be very fast when he puts his mind to it. This year he was particularly excited. He even dusted."

Annabeth's stomach turned into knots.

"Okay," Annabeth said. "I'm sorry for dropping by- I know that you said that he hadn't come but…"

Sally squeezed her hand.

"Don't worry. He'll come back soon, he always does," she said. She didn't look so sure, but Annabeth was so used to getting her comfort from Percy's mom that it worked out.

* * *

**7**

**Heaven**

While she was in New York, she stopped by the Empire State Building and walked striaght for the security guard's desk. As soon as he saw her Camp t-shirt and the knife she was carrying at her hip with no effort to conceal it, the guy had a fit.

"No, no, no!" he said. "You can't be here, the key…"

"I don't need the key, I'm the architect," Annabeth said jumping over his desk. He scurried back.

"You can't go up," he said.

"Like I said, I don't need to go up," Annabeth said tapping on the keyboard and furiously swirling the mouse from one side of the screen to another. She finally got to last night's security footage- but not just any. She needed to access the elevator's thermomagic image camera. It worked like a thermal camera but instead of using colours to show heat, the images captured showed the ammount of magic or magical blood that a person carried. Annabeth had gotten the idea when she'd remembered about the lightning bolt, stolen all those years ago. Demigods also left an image here- and a demigod like Percy would be a peculiar shade, with an even brighter spot in his pocket where Riptide would be.

She looked at the footage on fast-forwards carefully, and then at the associated graphs. The security guard -a new guy- was sweating, probably nervous about what his bosses up above would say.

"Excuse me, miss…"

"I have full access to this computer, you can't kick me out," Annabeth said.

"Miss, I have to close down."

Annabeth's shoulders drooped.

"Can I ask you one last question? It'll get rid of me, I promise."

"What?"

"Have you seen a boy with black hair and green eyes?" Annabeth asked.

"I see hundreds of tourists everyday miss, how could I…"

Annabeth grabbed his collar and slammed him to the wall.

"Listen, I have proven to you that I'm a half-blood and I have been nothing but patient to your constant rudeness since I got here," Annabeth said. "And I may be getting a little impatient. So for the last time…"

"No I haven't seen Percy Jackson!" he said.

Annabeth let go.

"You knew it was him?" Annabeth said. "How did you know it was him?"

"Everyone knows he's missing, miss," the guard said. "It's quite alarming."

"You're telling me," she said quietly.

* * *

**8**

**The Palace**

"HELLO?" Tyson asked. Annabeth was startled out of sleep- which may have been a good thing since she was in the Big House kitchen, snoring on some maps.

"Tyson?" She blinked as her eyes focused on the Iris Message.

"Annabeth!" Tyson said pleased. His smile left. "Tyson has bad news for Annabeth. Tyson is sorry."

"It's okay, Ty," Annabeth said. He loved it when she called him that, and Annabeth had to remember that Percy disappearing was hard on everyone. Even him.

Tyson shook his head. "No. Still no Percy. Not okay."

"You're sweet for trying, but there are plenty of other places that he could turn up other than your dad's palace," Annabeth said.

"Places like what?" he asked.

Annabeth bit her lip and looked at the map. Not a lot...

* * *

**9**

**The Maze**

She knelt next to Zeus' fist and climbed around for a bit until she finally found it: the Labyrinth's entrance.

After reading Daedalus' computer files on the labyrinth (all in the Ancien Greek text), she'd found out that the labyrinth, like any other living thing, had an immunity system and a regenetative system. It was why after all these years, the labyrinth hadn't been destroyed when she, Grover, Tyson and Percy had entered it. Of course, Daedalus dying had been a rather big blow, but she couldn't rule out the possibility that maybe, just maybe…

When she finally slipped open the door of the labyrinth, a puff of dust and rock attacked her. She scrambled back, coughing.

Her shoulders dropped and she sighed.

It _had _been a bit of a long shot.

* * *

**10**

**Where the Gods Told Her To**

Butch squeezed her hand.

"Breathe, Annabeth. You're so tense, you'll make the horses nervous."

Annabeth tried to take a deep breath.

"Sorry," she said.

"Do you think he'll be there?"

"That's what Hera said," Annabeth sighed. In a dream Hera had popped up to tell Annabeth where she could find 'the boy with one shoe' and 'everything she was looking for'. Something called 'the package'. Annabeth had, of course, given all the details to Chiron who'd cross-matched a ton of stuf to finally determine where this package would be delivered, and Annabeth and Butch had rushed to the scene.

But it was still fishy.

Hera. Out of all the goddesses to offer help after months of silence, _Hera _was helping _Annabeth _find her boyfriend _Percy. _Usually Hera didn't help Annabeth. Or any hero, really- but especially not Annabeth. That wasn't something that _happened_. This had to be a trick or a ruse. And if it wasn't, did that mean that Hera had had Percy all along? What _for? _Was Annabeth just a desperate puppy, jumping at everything dangled in front of her? She was starting to think so, and she'd calculated it all before landing, but it didn't change that once the chariot had barely landed on the grand canion, Annabeth raced towards the demigods standing there though they looked scared and confused.

"Where is he?" she demanded

"Where's who?" The blond boy asked.

She frowned. He was clueless.

"What about Gleeson," she asked. "Where's your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

The other boy -shorter, curly hair, latino- cleared his throat. "He was taken by… tornado things…"

"Venti," the blond said. "Storm spirits."

"You mean anemoi tuella?" Annabeth asked. "That's the Greek term. Who are you and what happened?"

She impatiently sat through a long and clumsy explanation, curtousy of the blond who wouldn't meet her eyes. She hung to his every word anyways, dying for a clue, a brief mention, anything really…

Nothing.

"No, no, no, no!" she said. "She told me he would be here! She told me if I came here, I would find the answewr!"

She nearly lost it, and definitely did when Butch pointed out that the blond was only wearing one shoe- like Hera had indicated in her dream. But despite all rationality, Annabeth hadn't been looking for one shoe. She'd been looking for Percy. Always had been, and now it seemed like she always would be.

She looked up at the sky as if it had personally offended her. Right now she was imagining looking right through all the clouds and straight at Olympus where some gods -definitely including Hera- were probably laughing at her.

"What do you want from me? What have you done with him?"

No answers.

Of course.

She'd have to think of ten more places.


End file.
